


you're still you

by sheligirl



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Crying, Episode: s02e08 The Blade of Marmora, Forehead Kisses, Hugging, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Romance, Keith (Voltron) Has Anxiety, M/M, Panic Attacks, Post-Episode: s02e08 The Blade of Marmora, SHEITH - Freeform, Sobbing, Whump, almost panic attacks, could be platonic or romantic, galra - Freeform, not broganes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-19
Updated: 2017-08-19
Packaged: 2018-12-17 12:02:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11851176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sheligirl/pseuds/sheligirl
Summary: “I’m…” Keith’s voice cracked, and Shiro flinched inside, clearly worried for the other. “Galra…?” And Keith’s own question sent himself reeling back into reality as he began hyperventilating once again. Shiro clutched him tighter.“Keith, hey, look at me. It’s okay, no one is gonna hurt you for that. Nothing is changing, you’re still you, you’ve always been you. It’s okay, it’s okay…” Shiro atttempted to convince Keith, the words spilling out of his mouth completely serious.





	you're still you

Keith sucked in a gasp the moment he boarded the ship. It wasn’t a relieved gasp and Shiro could sense it; hearing Keith like this chilled him to the bone. Keith began to shake in the thin Marmora uniform, clutching his injured and now swelling shoulder where he had been struck by one of the Blades. Hot, uncontrallable tears began to well up in his eyes and he concealed his face by staring straight at the ship’s floor, refusing to expose himself to anyone. Shiro took a quick but minuscule side-step and pressed himself against Keith so the other wouldn’t collapse. Holding tightly onto Keith’s uninjured shoulder, Shiro led the teen back to his room for some privacy. 

Keith was the first to speak as Shiro gently placed him on the edge of the bed, crouching on his heels so he could face Keith and hold his back to keep him in a sitting position, “Taka…” his sentence ended in an abrupt coughing fit, brought on by the crying. Tear tracks slid down Keith’s face through the dirt of the fight, but each track was replaced quickly by more oncoming tears. 

Shiro cautiously brought his thumb up to Keith’s face, slowly wiping away the younger’s tears. His thumb felt the furnace that Keith’s face was, and for a second Shiro became worried Keith had a bad fever, but eventually marked down that assumption as just him overheating from crying. “I know, it’s okay baby. You’re okay, I’m right here.” he whispered comforting words to Keith after that, grabbing at the back of Keith’s neck and brushing his hair, scratching his finger nails through the knots. Keith eventually reached his coarse hand up to grasp Shiro’s tightly, and pulled him closer to his shaking figure. 

“Takashi,” Keith managed to say, his voice hoarse and full of heartbreak. He suddenly moved his hand from Shiro’s to tug at the neck of the Marmoran suit, eyes pleading. “It’s too tight… can’t breathe,” he cried out, obviously in a panic, his breathing uneven and escalating at a quick pace. 

Shiro knows this reaction too well, having had several panic attacks before, so he moved swiftly to help Keith with a compassionate desperation. Keith’s choking was his imagination, as Shiro knew, so he tried to calm the teen down a bit while working on finding the neck of the suit’s zipper. “Okay Keith, you’re fine, your mind is just playing tricks on you love. C’mon, breathe with me, that’s right. Breathe in deeply, one, two, three, four. Release, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.”

Shiro’s nail caught a piece of metal and he began to unzip the neck of the indigo suit. Keith was still working on his breathing, which was beginning to even out at a painstakingly slow pace, but it was showing improvement as Shiro pulled the zipper down to Keith’s chest. He continued to whisper small words of encouragement to the younger Paladin as he pulled the suit slowly of off Keith’s right shoulder. The sticky, blood-covered skin put up a fight to stay with the uniform but Shiro eventually peeled it off of the vertical wound. Shiro left the suit on from Keith’s bust and below, knowing that Keith still needed guidance on breathing before he helped him change and lay down. 

Keith managed to murmur something, but his voice was too quite for Shiro to catch it. 

“What did you say, baby?” he asked with genuine curiosity, holding onto Keith’s face with his human hand yet again. Shiro’s eyes burned with tears threatening to spill, but he blinked them away so Keith wouldn’t become more of a mess than he already was at the moment.

“I’m…” Keith’s voice cracked, and Shiro flinched inside, clearly worried for the other. “Galra…?” And Keith’s own question sent himself reeling back into reality as he began hyperventilating once again. Shiro clutched him tighter. 

“Keith, hey, look at me. It’s okay, no one is gonna hurt you for that. Nothing is changing, you’re still you, you’ve always been you. It’s okay, it’s okay…” Shiro atttempted to convince Keith, the words spilling out of his mouth completely serious. 

Keith sobbed harshly, trying to push Shiro away from him, but the older Paladin just pulled him back fiercer than ever, determined not to let Keith go through this discovery on his own. Growing to tired to escape, Keith succumbed to Shiro’s enveloping warmth and personal aroma. Shiro rubbed Keith’s back as he held him, still whispering to Keith. 

“Shiro, I love you so much,” Keith wheezed out as he shook, “I can’t… I don’t want to…”

“Hey, hey, I love you too. More than you could ever know baby, farther than Kerberos, farther than anywhere in the universe. You don’t want to what?” Shiro replied calmly, a concerned look adorning his features. 

“I can’t lose you! Finding out that I’m Galra is killing me! You must be disgusted, I mean, they hurt you Takashi! They took your arm from you and tortured you and hearing this from them, that I’m one of them… I can’t! It physcially hurts to think that I could lose you! I don’t want you to leave me!” Keith sobbed out between gasps, clearly becoming too pained to speak anymore. He was curled in Shiro’s lap, instinctivley curling in on himself to not see the world. 

“I don’t want to make you force yourself to love me…” he finished quietly.

Shiro immediately snapped into action, grabbing Keith’s chin not even a second after he said that. “Keith, look at me,” he said cooly. “Keith.” Shiro commanded, forcing Keith’s chin to turn using his human hand, but with a gentleness. “Don’t you ever think or say that I would dare leave you. You’re my whole world, baby. You’re all that kept me going while imprisoned, you’re the first thing I think of when I wake up and the last I hear next to me before I fall asleep. I love you for who you are, and you’re Keith. Nothing’s changed, and you need to see that. I need you to see that.” 

Keith’s eyes watered with emotions. How did he even begin to deserve this man in his life? Tearfully, he grabbed a fist of Shiro’s undersuit, holding him closer. “I love you so much…” Keith whispered, his eyes fluttering to a close, his breathing even. Shiro pressed a soft kiss into Keith’s temple, “You’re okay, baby. I love you too.” They fell asleep cradling each other, both knowing their destinies were intertwined endlessly.

**Author's Note:**

> yes indeed, a second voltron fanfic, but this time only a one-shot. I had this idea while scrolling through keith angst on tumblr, and lo and behold, it turned into sheith. It could be platonic or romantic, but that's up to your interpretation.  
> find me on tumblr!   
> @hilaryjoyyy


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